About Continuing with Ubuntu 16.04 LTS

Not sure what issues you might run into after having used 16.04 LTS for so long and then switching to 20.04 LTS, but I'm using it with no issues, but will admit I'm not a power user.

Bill now uses 20.04 LTS as well, as that is what he installed on his Linux Developer's Workstation using the Intel NUC.  Here is a link to that episode: Linux Developer's Workstation

Good Luck!

Hello codecage,

Thanks a lot for your reply.

I was struggling to take this decision. 

Thank You 😀 

You post this at an interesting time, I'm just saying goodbye to my last two Ubuntu 16.04 machines.  It's a sad occasion, they have both had a long history with me and they are still in perfect working order. 

I retired the Acer 17-inch notebook that I bought in 2011 and until last week played a part in every video and article I made, as it served as my "media pre-processing" computer. It started life as a Windows 7 machine with a 200GB hard disk, and now has Ubuntu 16.04 with a 500GB SSD.  It's still in working order, but I need the space it's occupying for the new computer that will be arriving at the end of March.

And, as @codecage has pointed out, I've built a new Ubuntu 20.04 machine for the workshop. In fact, just a few minutes ago I received the last part needed to make the transition between the old Ubuntu 16.04 box and the new 20.04 Intel NUC.  The "last part needed" was the UPS, which is charging up now.

Switching over will be a big job, as it involves moving my workbench, which I haven't done since 2015 (when I was a lot younger and stronger LOL).  I have to remove the old desktop unit and KVM switch and all the wiring and install the new stuff. So the workshop will be out of commission for a few days.

I found the transition to 20.04 to be a non-issue, for the most part, I did have a few other computers already at 18.04 so I had familiarity with the new interface. The hardest thing to get used to was the way it handles multiple desktops on multiple monitors, I disliked it at first but now I kind of like it (But I prefer 16.04's method).

BTW, I have never UPGRADED a machine from 16.04 to 20.04, I have always started with a fresh OS install. I really recommend that if you can do it, all my work files reside on NAS drives so I don't have to worry about saving data and I like to have a fresh installation.

I did have some issues duplicating the network share I use on the new "media pre-processing machine", which is an Intel I7 NUC with Ubuntu 20.04, similar to my new workshop computer. But that issue turned out to be because of the way I was mounting a second SSD, which the share was on, and I think I would have had the same issue on 16.04 under the same circumstances.

Most of the "changes" with 20.04 seem to be improvements, at least I think they are. The Settings utility has settings for pretty well everything in one place, more so than 16.04 and previous versions did. 

I was dismayed to see that I couldn't run as many utilities n the command bar as I could in 16.04, I had a menuing system that I found particularly useful that I can't get to work on the new interface. I also used to be able to display things like CPU temperature and local weather, which I can't figure out how to do here. I'm sure someone will figure it out and I'll come upon the instructions one day, they aren't really important issues.

I realize that you can always run the old interface on top of 20.04 and make everything work like before, but I don't like to do that with new versions. I always just try and learn how to use them, even though I often miss old features.

At the command line I have found no difference, and installing programs with Snap natively is actually a step above the Software Installer on Ubuntu 16.04.

And, of course, there are so many great resources on the web, like the Ubuntu Forums and It's Foss that you can get pretty well any question answered, if you have an issue you can be sure someone has seen it before.

So I would say upgrade to 20.04 and spend a few days wrapping your head around the interface, it's worth it.

😎

Bill

Hello DronebotWorkshop,

Thanks for the reply. Actually I use a dual boot system (I use my Ubuntu 16.04 as a virtual machine). So let's go with both of the recommendations. So I can use both 16.04 and 20.04. Becuase I already have 16.04 as a vm installed on windows and I can also install a new vm of ubuntu 20.04

Thank You 😎